Why I haven't written about politics for a while

If there is such thing as a seasoned reader to my blog, they will have noticed that I haven’t written about politics for a long time.

There's no alternative to Theresa May's deal – we're going to find that out the hard way

Last night, the government experienced the worst defeat since the 1920s, as 432 MPs voted against the EU’s withdrawal agreement. Be in no doubt, this throws the Brexit process in to absolute chaos and makes the bleak prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal a stark and very real one.

There will be no new centrist alliance in British politics

Recent political chatter about a new, centrist force for so-called moderates grew louder yesterday with the revelation that, at some point, Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable plans to quit once Brexit is resolved – so no time soon then! There is also talk of the Lib Dems reforming to permit the choosing of a leader who does not sit in Westminster, a sure sign of their rather tragic fall and loss of place in British political discourse.

May's first appointments show she's a PM that means business

What a momentous day it must have been for Theresa May. Cool, calm and collected, she is said to have spent this very morning working on urgent papers at her Home Office desk, before the most significant event of her life – her appointment with the Queen, at which she replaced David Cameron as Prime Minister.
A somewhat mysterious figure, May’s comparatively low profile and close guarding of her privacy means that we don’t know much about this woman. What we do know, though, is that as Home Secretary, she has proved time and time again that she’s not to be messed with.

Labour must do better and Tories must think different

Local elections are a funny old business. The results, however the chips have fallen, tend to be viewed by almost everyone as proof that things aren’t that bad. Indeed, it always makes a nonsense of the journalistic proclivity to translate local results to general elections, even if said elections are 4 years away.

Cameron's phony EU battle is over; let the real battle commence

Another EU summit, another all-nighter, another pretend game of brinkmanship, but last night David Cameron emerged triumphant, proclaiming with confidence that he now believes he has secured the reforms required for him to be able to recommend our continued membership of the EU. And here it is, ladies and gentlemen – Britain’s new deal. It is the deal that, for David Cameron, apparently changes everything.

I'd rather be a red Tory than a wet Tory

Every party is a coalition. No party is illustrating that more explicitly at the moment than Labour, though commentators, journalists and politicians alike have ideologically categorised the British Conservative party’s different wings in a lot more detail and with a much wider degree of specificity. I’m the kind of Tory sometimes pejoratively but, I’d like to think, nonetheless affectionately labelled ‘red Tories.’ Others describe themselves as “Ken Clark Tories.” Whatever!

Lords, tax credits and those point-scoring Lib Dems

Confused as to why a debate on tax credits has become one centred on the very British constitution itself? You’re in good company, so here’s a rather excellent guide to help you understand it.
With that out of the way, we should be absolutely clear that if a fatal motion succeeds against the statutory instrument through which the Conservative government seeks to implement its tax credit changes, it will raise serious questions about the political legitimacy of the House of Lords.

This hard-working mother shows us why changes to tax credits are fair

This is the moment a mother-of-4 confronted Tory minister Amber Rudd on the BBC’s Question Time last week, and she turned away in shame.

Conservative Party: an inspiring conference and a vision for the future

The pictures couldn’t have contrasted more. On the one hand Conservatives young and old, smartly dressed, filed in to a packed venue in Manchester. On the other, a mob of spitting, bottle-throwing louts shouting “Tory scum!” One 18 year-old eruditely described on last night’s Question Time how she was called a “paedophile and child murderer” as she attempted to enter the conference. This is the last gasp of a political left that has truly and utterly taken leave of its senses.

Jeremy Corbyn: the triumph of easy answers, dangerous ideas and the one-party state

There is no sniff of smugness coming from the Tories over yesterday’s victory of Jeremy Corbyn as the new leader of the Labour party. Writing in today’s Telegraph, Michael Gove has written persuasively of his belief that Jeremy Corbyn actually poses a real, serious risk to the security of this country – a line repeated by Michael Fallon and Priti Patel on news programmes yesterday; there will be other voices repeating much the same message from the big guns of the Conservative party.

Dear Labour, you were once a formidible foe

Dear Labour,
My o my. What a pickle you are in. One should not only gently try and guide a friend heading down a calamitous path, but should be generous enough to do so also to a respectable foe, which you have proved over the years.